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Four previously unnamed WWE corporate officers in the trafficking and assault lawsuit filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant against the WWE, Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis have now been identified.
Grant, who worked in the WWE talent relations and legal department, filed a sexual misconduct lawsuit on January 25 against the former WWE CEO and chairman and former WWE Head of Talent Relations.
Grant states in the lawsuit that she was employed “in a completely undefined role, except for the understanding that she remain a sexual slave to be used and trafficked by McMahon within the WWE.”
This week, Front Office Sports has revealed that in the lawsuit filed in federal court in Connecticut, WWE president Nick Khan and COO Brad Blum are the men identified as Corporate Officers No. 1 and No. 2.
Janel Grant claims that Khan, Blum and others facilitated and covered up her exploitation and therefore makes the WWE liable under federal anti-trafficking laws.
Grant claims Blum gave her a job in the legal department at Vince McMahon’s behest and that after she signed a nondisclosure agreement and was to be paid $3 million (she was only paid $1 million), Blum was one of two people who McMahon told her to contact if she ever needed anything.
The other person was, according to Grant, Nick Khan, who also knew about the nature of her relationship with Vince McMahon.
“WWE takes Ms. Grant’s allegations very seriously and has no tolerance for any physical abuse or unwanted physical contact,” a WWE spokesperson said in a statement. “Neither Nick Khan nor Brad Blum, prior to the lawsuit being filed on January 25, 2024, were aware of any allegation by Ms. Grant that she was the victim of abuse or unwanted physical contact; nor does the complaint allege that either had knowledge of such.”
The two other anonymous corporate officers mentioned in Janel Grant’s lawsuit were identified by Front Office Sports as WWE executive Stephanie McMahon and Brian Nurse, former general counsel and head of the WWE legal department.
“Yes, I can confirm that these names are correct,” Ann Callis, attorney for Janel Grant, told Front Office Sports.
Stephanie McMahon, then WWE’s chief brand officer, who knew of Grant and interacted with her a meeting of the WWE Executive Committee, announced she was taking a leave of absence from the company three months after the NDA between McMahon and Grant was signed.
Brian Nurse allegedly had been told to offer Janel Grant a job in the legal department by Vince McMahon.
According to Front Office Sports, Nurse was later “terminated or asked to resign,” making him one of a number of employees it claims were “forced to resign or were let go if they knew of McMahon’s exploits and failed to assist, support and/or facilitate them.”